(via Instagram)

It’s the last week of January, another month gone.  Fortunately, this month actually felt lived, if that makes sense, but has also been one of my harder months, mentally.  Getting stuck in my own head is one of my biggest faults and I’m trying not to get lost in there.

“Don’t think too much.  You’ll create a problem that wasn’t there in the first place.”

That’s how I’ve been feeling lately.  But no, not in the way you think of “getting lost.”  I’ve been getting lost…in my work, and in a good way.  I love getting projects where I can’t eat or sleep until I’ve solved the problem, that doesn’t sound exactly healthy, but it’s not something I do a lot of time, which makes it special when a project comes along that makes me feel that way.  It makes me feel excited to get the job done and make the deadline.  I will blame that for my lack of posts for the past few weeks, but anyway…I thought I’d take the time to reflect and appreciate how things fall into place in life and to always stay positive and active in your pursuits.  I really believe that you can’t put all your eggs into one basket.  You can’t expect just one thing to satisfy all of your creative energy, your happiness, your motivation, your drive, etc.  I’ve learned that when one thing isn’t going right to move on to the next and that other thing will sort itself out along the way.  It’s never healthy to expect ONE thing (or person) to solve ALL of your problems or questions in life, or to make you happy. It’s really an accumulation of everything.  That way, if one endeavor goes wrong or one person disappoints you you have another endeavor or someone else to turn to give you hope and excitement.

“I like it when somebody gets excited about something. It’s nice.”
– J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

You also have to learn to let go of things you can’t control.  If something happened yesterday that made you feel embarrassed, stupid, or crappy, let it go, it happened and you can’t take it back, you just keep moving forward.

Some days are harder than others, some days are harder to see the good in every day, but we can still try and fight as hard as we can.

“You are not weak just because your heart feels so heavy.”
– Andrea Gibson

It’s a new week, let’s start it off on a high note.

The best things in life are meant to be shared.

I knew I had to pick up something from Dana Tanamachi’s limited collection at Target and when I saw this at my local Target I just had to get it, it’s the Best Things Decal.  It’s a lot bigger than I thought it was (from looking at photos online), but the perfect size for above our couch and I love how big it is, it really stands out in the perfect way!  We never got around to hanging up frames on this wall, but I guess it all worked out.  This will be such a great back drop for photos.

Here’s a close up.  Looks seamless, eh?

As for our process we marked the wall first to give us a general guideline of where we wanted it (I would suggest you mark guidelines for at least the top half, where it should start and end), but we had more trouble getting it smooth and bubble-free, which I think is just the nature of a decal.   We had to remove it and reapply the first half a few times, but even after peeling the decal off a few times it still held up and adhered well to the wall.  It was our first time using a decal, so we had a little bit of trouble getting it aligned correctly, getting all of the bubbles out, and recovering from the decal getting stuck on itself and ripping at a corner (make sure you’re aware of the curves while you’re peeling the decal off the backing!  I think I was too excited.  Luckily, the rip is minor).  The instructions it comes with suggests you to peel the decal off about 2 inches at a time and smooth out the bubbles as you go, moving from the middle out.  Once you get the top portion down the bottom half is a breeze.  We’re a bit of perfectionists, so we had to make sure everything looked right.

Tip: Put a blow dryer to the bubbly spots and then continue to smooth outwards, it did the trick.

What do you guys think?

I think we can get so lost in the end goal we forget about how we feel and what we put ourselves through in the journey getting there.  Was it enjoyable?  Did it meet your expectations?  Did you learn something?  Did you love it?  Was it worth it?

“Pick the mountain you like climbing, not the one you want to be on top of.”
– Sebastian Thrun

I only recently started reading Seth Godin’s blog (this year, I know where have I been?) and everything he writes about is always relatable to different aspects of your life.  He’s such an amazing speaker (I had the privilege of attending his Creative Mornings talk in NY in May) and thinker.   Sorry for the vagueness, but that’s the best I can describe  as I write this in my 85 degree room in this humid, rainy, gross NY weather.

His latest post on money really got me thinking about the way I’ve been thinking about money lately, especially being a freelancer money doesn’t come in the form of a stable paycheck every month and feeling doubt and worry is a daily thing, especially when you’re new to freelancing.   Here are a few key points that really stood out to me:

2. Money spent on one thing is still the same as money spent on something else. A $500 needless fee on a million-dollar mortgage closing is just as much money as a $500 tip at McDonalds.

12. Don’t get caught confusing money with security. There are lots of ways to build a life that’s more secure, starting with the stories you tell yourself, the people you surround yourself with and the cost of living you embrace. Money is one way to feel more secure, but money alone won’t deliver this.

16. In the long run, doing work that’s important leads to more happiness than doing work that’s merely profitable.

Seth Godin on Thinking About Money